The 1984 SC Chevron Ruling went down in flames on Friday, and with it the never-ending expansion of presidential ruling by decree. This will have a major positive impact.
President Biden is having an amazingly bad week. The overturn of Chevron is the best and most significant ruling of this court.
Supreme Court Pares Back Federal Regulatory Power
The Wall Street Journal reports Supreme Court Pares Back Federal Regulatory Power
The Supreme Court upended the federal regulatory framework in place for 40 years, expanding the power of federal judges to overturn agency decisions involving environmental, consumer and workplace safety policy, among other areas.
The 6-3 decision, along ideological lines, discards a 1984 precedent directing federal courts to defer to agency legal interpretations when the statutory language passed by Congress is ambiguous.
In abandoning the doctrine called Chevron deference, the justices have given parties unhappy with agency decisions—typically businesses and property owners—more opportunities to overturn regulations by persuading federal judges that officials exceeded their authority.
“Agencies have no special competence in resolving statutory ambiguities. Courts do,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
Even before the decision, the conservative-dominated court had been hammering away at federal regulatory power, in opinions that threw out Biden administration policies ranging from public-health measures to contain Covid-19 to a blanket cancellation of student-loan debt. But while the Supreme Court hasn’t cited Chevron for authority in years, many lower courts said they remained bound by the doctrine as long as it remained on the books.
“The Supreme Court’s previous deference rule allowed each new presidential administration to advance their political agendas through flip-flopping regulations and not provide consistent rules of the road for businesses to navigate, plan and invest in the future,” said Suzanne Clark, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which filed a brief urging the court to overrule Chevron.
Friday’s decision brings the Chevron saga full circle. Conservatives initially hailed the Chevron decision, which required the then-liberal leaning federal judiciary to defer to Reagan administration policies rolling back environmental protections.
Over subsequent decades, however, Democratic administrations used regulatory tools to advance their agendas in the face of congressional gridlock. With Congress often passing vaguely worded legislation, the Chevron doctrine limited judges from second-guessing regulators’ application of ambiguous provisions except when manifestly unreasonable.
Masters of Vagueness
Congress passed vaguely worded bills on purpose, but Democrats were the masters of this process. In addition to purposeful vagueness,
Democrats were also masters of finding accidental vagueness in bills from decades ago an having Biden issue regulation on that basis. Many of Biden’s environmental decrees were on such premises.
So were his student loan decrees even though then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Biden did not have the legal power to do what he did.
This led to a circle situation where Republicans and Democrats were constantly reversing each other.
Biden on Student Debt Cancellation: “The Supreme Court Didn’t Stop Me”
On February 6, I commented Biden on Student Debt Cancellation: “The Supreme Court Didn’t Stop Me”
And this is from a President who complains “no one should be above the law”. Ironies abound.
Biden’s Prosecutorial Overreach on Jan. 6 Riot Cases Backfires
Yesterday, I commented Biden’s Prosecutorial Overreach on Jan. 6 Riot Cases Backfires
The Justice department’s prosecutorial overreach, no doubt influenced by Biden, blew up in the Supreme Court today.
No one has used the the courts more as a prosecutorial weapon than this administration and Democrat cronies at the state level.
Rioters destroyed many cities and Democrats sat back and did nothing. Two wrongs don’t make a right and I have little sympathy for most of those involved in the January 6 event.
Instead of going after those smashing things and getting into physical situations with police officers, team Biden trotted out an obscure law which the Court ruled applied to something else.
Trump Found Guilty in New York
In the most politically obvious and unwarranted prosecution in history, Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of felonies.
A misdemeanor, on which the statute of limitations had run out, was used to produce 34 felony counts on committing a Federal offense for which he was not charged.
I commented Trump Found Guilty – a Travesty of Justice for America
Trump was found guilty of a crime, but can anyone say what it is? Prosecutorial misconduct is dripping.
If they can do this to Trump, they can do whatever they want to anyone. And they will, for political purposes.
One does not have to like Trump to see what is happening here. For the record, I am a Libertarian who has not voted Republican or Democrat for President for decades.
Only political Ideologs can support Team Biden here. The same applies to many ridiculous statements Trump has made on tariffs or whatever.
Let’s now discuss the debate. Trump did not turn in a glowing performance. But he didn’t have to.
I noted Biden Looked Like a Zombie on Drugs, MSNBC “You Cannot Sugar Coat This”
To appreciate how badly Biden performed, you had to be watching MSNBC, not Fox News. I have a slew of notable quotes.
Biden performed so badly that the MSNBC commentators trashed Biden across the board. Click above for details.
To say the president had a bad week is the understatement of the year.
I booted Casual Observer for accusing me of doing something for clicks.
I provided synopsis of a bad week for Biden.
Enough is enough. ZH would have banned him long ago.
Goodbye.
Thank you, he was ridiculously annoying.
MP45 and ME annoy most of u, yet ME is MP45 are inversed. We say “NO” to your red votes. If more girls will say “NO” this country will be in a better shape.
In the black market people work for cash. In the gray market highly skilled workers, like Casual Observer, earn CA wages, but pay income tax in lower income tax states like TX or AZ. That’s why Newsom rob people in the pumps and charge sale taxes between 7.25% and 10.75%.
no one pays a “lower” income tax in Texas. By statewide vote, the Texas Constitution was modified to disallow, permanently, any income tax of any kind and for all time to come.
So I just wasted three down votes on C.O. 😉
The problem is it requires Congress to do something. The entire reason for deference to the Administrative State was so Congress could avoid doing, ie taking the blame for anything. It’s not “us” it’s them. Elect “us” and we will…. whatever. Mostly a plea that they would put judges in who would overrule the rules they didn’t like. Both R’s and D’s did this. The most important thing to someone in Congress is to get reelected. An old limerick:
Should I vote for my Congressman?
A Congressman has two ends.
A sitting end and a thinking end.
And since his whole success depends upon his seat.
Why bother friend?
The R’s had control of both Houses the first two years of Trump’s first term. They did zilch. Both parties will avoid trying to do anything even with Chevron overturned.
The Founding Fathers constructed the Constitution to make Congress the strongest of the three branches. It is now the weakest. Not because the other two usurped their power but because they frittered it away. Getting elected and reelected is the primary goal, regardless of which party or political stance.
The D’s are more likely to use it if the agencies make decisions they don’t like The R’s will shy away, if at all possible.
“Policy by Decree”
Isn’t that called authoritarianism? Authoritarianism is not democracy. Have Democrats opposed authoritarian policy by decree? Not when they are the ones making the decrees through federal or state agencies. Governor Newsom recently got the Democrat packed State Supreme Court to block a direct democracy ballot measure called the Tax Payer Protection Act, from the November ballot.
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“Policy by Decree”
Isn’t that called authoritarianism?
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Yes.
And it makes not one whit of difference if the decree emanates from “agency” or from some “court.” NEITHER of which has any “special competence in resolving statutory ambiguities.”
Even in an ideal world, courts at most have “special competence” at determining whether observed facts of a specific case map to NON-AMBIGOUS statutes. Not; in any way; at performing mindreading of sleazeballs likely too dumb to even know what’s in the mess they, themselves voted for.
Handing arbitrary power to ANYONE is the bane of any scheme supposed to result in “rule by the people.” “Courts” are in no way exempt from that. Just as agencies are not.
Instead: Any ambiguity at all; needs to immediately lead the whole statute to be tossed out in its entirety: Go back and try again!
Which very likely would require any legislation extending beyond very basic, Commandments style, dictates; to be written in a language much less intrinsically ambiguous than English. More similar to a high level computer language. (This would also have the enormous side benefit of enforcing some minimal level of comprehension and logical coherence on the “legal” class as well. Something which is sorely missing today.) That way, if a law “depends what the meaning of is, is”; it is either tossed out; or someone has to first define the meaning of is unambiguously; before the law could be written.
English was never intended as a language for encoding complex regulations for complex industrial societies. Playing ostrich and pretending that doesn’t matter; doesn’t magically make it actually not matter. Hence: Either resolve complex laws’ dependence on more precise language by providing such a language; or stop writing such laws. Since persisting in writing them despite not having access to a language with the required precision, can never add up to anything more than a backdoor to entirely arbitrary rule by those arbitrarily privileged to “interpret” the nonsense.
Chevron-less puts a dent in the Imperial Presidency, which puts a dent in the NatSec Swamp. The constitution was not designed for an Imperial Presidency, even if Hamilton wanted a President for life. Remember, National Security in an Imperial Presidency is not concerned with your well being or security, but the security and profit driven by the empire and dispersed to the select few.
I think it is pretty clear that it is not Biden that is setting policy by decree.
Finally!!! After decades of expanding the powers of the Executive branch the power of the POTUS is being reined in a bit! As Mish noted the costly whiplash from a bunch of Executive decrees being reversed and new ones issued should be much reduced if not eliminated.
It is a fine line to walk, the balance of power between Federal level and State.
So very much administrative regulations coming from Fed have gotten to point that States are not complying.
The Supreme Court has been returning power to States and reversing Chevron can be viewed as another step towards keeping the Union together.
The US is so very diverse that just because DC says so does not make it applicable across the Nation.
I have had major doubts about Roberts led Court, especially after ruling on health care as a Tax. But this action is highly commendable.
The whole Border crisis would have never happened without Biden disregarding existing Laws on the books passed by Congress. That Texas moved against what Biden has done shows how close to outright schism the Nation has been moving.
Returning to a Separation of powers model of Government rather then one Branch, being Executive, going Rouge whenever it wants, is a return to The US Constitution.
Very well stated Richard!
I can’t help, but to wonder my self if SCOTUS discussed what’s coming, and before another Administration had another shot at the ambiguity of this mess that exist, they agreed to eliminate it and safe ourselves from ourselves. SCOTUS does have a way, and history, of doing so…
“It is a fine line to walk, the balance of power between Federal level and State.”
The U.S. Constitution defined the balance of power. There was no federal Department of Education for most of the country’s history. We now have federal agencies which threaten to cut off federal funds to states, if they don’t cow tow to federal demands, so they can control state constitutionally authorized functions.
I fully agree with what you have posted.
Unfortunately or fortunately this Nation of Ours has grown considerably with the prosperity that came about as consequence of its’ founding.
With the population growth has come multitudes of complexity leading to where we are today.
There is still that phrase” In order to form a more perfect Union” I would hope that shall continue as a worthwhile goal as the years pass and the Future becomes today and then yesterday.
I tend to be a practical person and make every effort to turn that Lemon we are handed into a passable Lemonade. We for now remain stuck with what is essentially the two party system. It will take a great leader to bring this Nation out of malaise. If the people have had enough then the people can give whom they choose a chance to succeed by giving that person a legislative majority.
If they do that then Government by executive decree which has been set aside will not be missed.
If more people set aside the amount of Time it takes to watch an X men movie, they could read the US Constitution in its entirety and understand just how magnificent a document they have been handed down as consequence of the American Revolution.
If Trump wins he will carry wall street in the “silk road”. If Biden expires Gamala
will transfer power to wall street, doing nothing, laughing all day..
Doesn’t this also constrain Trump’s ability to rule by decree as well? And any other president who follows?
Yes it does. That is the way the Federal government is supposed to work. If Trump wants something done then he should go to Congress. There is latitude of course for unexpected events. But the US was founded as result of dealing with a Monarchy which abused its discretion.
Recreating a Monarchy via executive order goes against the Founding principles of this Nation.
So, Biden stopped Trumps executive orders at the border, and Republicans didn’t like the results. Then Biden worked behind the scenes to get actual legislation, compromises and all, enacted, and it was shut down by Trump. If elected, Trump will almost certainly put Executive Orders in place to shut down the border. I wonder if you, or Mish, will support that, or stick with your guns that Presidents can’t govern by decree? I guess we might just see.
If you show me where making illegals become legal without having some qualifications that contribute to this country then there might have been a point to what was proposed and then shot down as legislation.
However just because a person can Fog a mirror does not mean they should be granted legal status as an migrant.
You have a person capable of Fogging a mirror sitting in the Oval office.
Other then that, Thursday evening it was quite obvious that he contributes little to nothing other then a rubber stamp to the executive Branch.
In both these cases the people who live in this country Legally, who are attempting to make their lives for the better, are getting shafted.
As for Trump closing the borders all he has to do is enforce immigration Laws already on the books. Keep in mind in spite of a very Hostile environment that Trump had to work with, namely a House and Senate controlled by Dems he was still able to bring illegal numbers way down.
Since Biden has the mental capacity of a four year old he is incapable of following already enacted Legislation.
Results : gov spending and the budget deficit will drop. The private sector will thrive. The Dow will popup. Biden/Gamala had a great week, bc Biden was defeated badly.
Give me 29 red.
I disagree on your wording. The government spending and the deficit will continue to rise. However it will rise at a lower pace thanks to this ruling. The expenses are baked in to rise as the interest on the 35 trillion debt will be a millstone that will cost at least a trillion each year and that 35 trillion debt is rising by billions every day to compound the debt.
Don’t forget that the US Treasury has to barrow cash to pay interest on the debt. More cash is also needed to pay Social Security and Medicare Benfits.
What do you think missing part of those benefits will look like?
Clicks just seem getting harder to find
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IP8G4clUJBY
To say the president had a bad week is the understatement of the year.
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A bad week is better than a terrible year. Doesn’t anyone remember 2020?
Yes. Biden got elected and created this inflationary, border busting, drunken spending and war mongering mess.
Jan 20 cannot get here soon enough!
Ah yes, the engineered illness that started spreading in autumn of 2019 was recklessly used to push around most of the world’s population starting early that year. That was a terrible year.
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/health/22whoop.html
““Agencies have no special competence in resolving statutory ambiguities. Courts do,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.”
There are numerous attorneys at regulatory agencies steeped in jurisprudence of the agency, department, etc., they are paid to oversee.
To argue that all wisdom regarding a judge at the district or appellate levels is the height of arrogance.
The numerous attorneys at regulatory agencies steeped in jurisprudence of the agency, department, etc., are there to protect the agency and not to protect the general good. Their orders are to do the job the head of the agencies tell them to do and that’s it. It’s not the job of a worker at McDonalds to lecture you on the dangers of fast food and it’s not the job of the lawyers at the agency to go against what their supervisor tells them to do.
B.S. I have had to appear before various regulatory agencies for info gathering and potential corporate violations, and I can assure you most of the decisions are decided at the lower level.
I have extensive experience with regulatory agencies also and the lawyers there are not to protect you but to see if your company has done something wrong.
That is the job of regulatory agency attorneys is to look for the exception similar to audits by internal accountants.
The Agencies are THERE to protect against the Dangers of Fast Food or Any Other Food that is Dangerous. Food companies have historically been bad about protecting consumers without regulation. Same for manufacturers fighting against seatbelts and airbags and many other safety measures that have been passed over objections from industry.
Protect against the dangers?
In politics, regulatory capture (also called agency capture) is a form of corruption of authority that occurs when a political entity, policymaker, or regulator is co-opted to serve the commercial, ideological, or political interests of a minor constituency, such as a particular geographic area, industry, profession, or ideological group.
Really glad to see you writing up on the Chevron case. It was brought to my attention last week, and after reading up on it, Holy Cow! You bet it’s a highly important ruling!
Thanks
And I have idiots accusing me of trying to get clicks.
To preserve democracy, “democrats” have to keep the most popular candidate off the ballot.
This is actually the dynamic between elected officials and government bureaucrats.
(901) 5 Lessons from Sir Humphrey | Yes, Prime Minister | BBC Comedy Greats – YouTube
I had been looking for the clip “Never believe anything until it’s officially denied”
Have that one?
I have all the episodes so I will try to track this one down. It’s almost bedtime here so I will do it tomorrow.
Still looking but I like this one. Ways and Means
Clip: Yes Minister S03E06 The Whisky Priest (youtube.com)
I watched that, hilarious
Biden shouldn’t be able to rule by decree just because she’s married to the “president”.
What about Nancy Reagan ruling when Ronnie was governing with moderate to advanced Alzheimer’s from approximately ’86 – ’88?
What about when Alexander The Great was married to Roxane?
That was a real scandal! He should have married a daughter of Darius III, the Person emperor.
Alex preferred men but did squeeze in a woman every now and then.
You don’t have to put out the red light. Those days are over, you don’t have to sell your body to the night!
Jill has her price. I mean she let her drug infused son travel the world to make The Big Guy and the biden family rich. The Biden’s love money more than power. Joe will step down. Jill is simply holding out for the right price.